Government Employees Insurance Company, or
GEICO, has introduced a new auto insurance rate
plan that is expected to deliver insurance savings
to many Michigan drivers.
According to the company, the changes will go into
effect on July 3, 2008, for new policyholders and
October 1, 2008, for renewal policies.
Overall premium changes for individual motorists
will vary based upon factors such as coverages
purchased, geographic area, type of vehicle, risk
characteristics, and other discounts for which they
qualify, the company added. [read more]
Showing posts with label Mass. auto insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mass. auto insurance. Show all posts
If you're single, you're probably accustomed to a little nagging from your friends and family. Maybe you've also got a concerned therapist, boss, or mailman who can't understand why someone as fabulous as you isn't paired up. Now here comes someone else to drive you crazy: those folks at your auto insurance company.
Since April 1, insurers have been competing for our business and offering discounts to nab the customers they want most. And, according to a report by two consumer groups, they want married people. The report says (though the insurance industry denies) that with competition, singles will see their premiums rise and married couples will see theirs fall – driving records notwithstanding. So, if you're single, slowing down and perfecting your parallel parking will not earn you a rate break. You'll need to get married for that. [...]
Since April 1, insurers have been competing for our business and offering discounts to nab the customers they want most. And, according to a report by two consumer groups, they want married people. The report says (though the insurance industry denies) that with competition, singles will see their premiums rise and married couples will see theirs fall – driving records notwithstanding. So, if you're single, slowing down and perfecting your parallel parking will not earn you a rate break. You'll need to get married for that. [...]
MASS DRIVERS LOVE NEW AUTO INSURANCE WEBSITE
The state's Web site that gives motorists a place to compare automobile insurance rates does not give consumers accurate price comparisons, Attorney General Martha Coakley said Tuesday.Officials cautioned consumers about relying upon rate information obtained from the commonwealth’s Division of Insurance's Web site InsureMASS. A letter sent Tuesday from the attorney general’s office to the commissioner of insurance expressed concerns that the Web site does not allow for accurate price comparisons for the majority of consumers. [...]
COMPARISON SHOPPING COMES TO MASS DRIVERS
The state Division of Insurance's new auto insurance Web site apparently has been popular with consumers, generating an average of about 19,500 hits a day since its launch a month ago.
But the InsureMASS site, which is designed to be a roadmap to help navigate the competitive insurance market that begins here next month, isn't winning any popularity contests in insurance industry circles.
The Web site does offer a useful database of insurance agents. But drivers who log on to the site will most likely focus on its insurance premium comparison tool.
That rate comparison system has created plenty of buzz among insurance agents, although it's probably not the kind of buzz that Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes would have wanted. [...]
"We don't want people to be apathetic about this," Burnes said. "They need to challenge their agents and get the best deal possible."
For the first time in 30 years, Massachusetts motorists can today start comparison shopping for competitively priced auto insurance.The Division of Insurance has launched a website - http://mass.gov/autorates - that allows consumers to get competitive quotes from the roughly 20 companies that sell auto insurance in the state. The average driver could save $200, according to Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes. She wants drivers to spend the time to get the best deal. [...]
HOMEOWNER STATUS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INFO
Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry, D-Peabody, yesterday blasted the governor's plans for deregulating the way automobile insurance rates are set.
The administration's plan came under scrutiny yesterday when consumer groups and lawmakers filed legislation requiring insurers to set rates based only on a person's driving record and not financial or homeowner status.
Berry said Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes, a judge before she was appointed commissioner earlier this year, was "totally off track" for recently approving rules that forbade the use of credit scoring when setting rates but did not prohibit those other factors.
"I think the judge has been misled," Berry said. "I'm concerned. There's evidence that Geico and Progressive and other insurers use these variables that should not be used when calculating insurance rates."
He also took aim at the administration, pointing out that, in 1977, the Dukakis administration approved a deregulation plan that caused urban drivers' rates to soar. Berry represents the cities of Peabody and Salem.[...]
Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry, D-Peabody, yesterday blasted the governor's plans for deregulating the way automobile insurance rates are set.
The administration's plan came under scrutiny yesterday when consumer groups and lawmakers filed legislation requiring insurers to set rates based only on a person's driving record and not financial or homeowner status.
Berry said Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes, a judge before she was appointed commissioner earlier this year, was "totally off track" for recently approving rules that forbade the use of credit scoring when setting rates but did not prohibit those other factors.
"I think the judge has been misled," Berry said. "I'm concerned. There's evidence that Geico and Progressive and other insurers use these variables that should not be used when calculating insurance rates."
He also took aim at the administration, pointing out that, in 1977, the Dukakis administration approved a deregulation plan that caused urban drivers' rates to soar. Berry represents the cities of Peabody and Salem.[...]
Auto insurance in Mass is a $3.9 billion industry but insurance companies still struggle to make a profit.
By Bob Kievra
The 25-page report, which was dated March 15 but released only yesterday, points to several problems in Massachusetts’ one-of-a-kind system of insuring cars. But it falls short of former Gov. Mitt Romney’s recommendation to overhaul the entire system and introduce competitive pricing in the Bay State.
The recommendations of the task force were eagerly awaited by auto insurers in Massachusetts, who have waged both private and public campaigns over the past several years that would enable insurers to set their own prices in the $3.9 billion Massachusetts automobile insurance industry, the 11th-largest in the country.
Mr. Patrick, to date, has yet to sketch out his views on the topic. In a statement yesterday he labeled the report “a meaningful first step in achieving a balance which maintains affordability throughout the Commonwealth while introducing a level of competition which will prove beneficial to all Massachusetts drivers.”
Massachusetts is unique in that regulators set rates for all automobile insurance companies, while in every other state insurers determine their own prices based on their own rating variables. Mr. Romney sought to give insurers greater flexibility in pricing their own policies, noting that 35 insurance companies have left the state since 1990, leaving only 19 insurers to write policies for the state’s 4 million drivers.
[...read more...]
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